Unreal Engine 4 support added to Firefox without plugins

Mozilla and Epic Games have teamed up to bring Unreal Engine 4 to Firefox, expanding on the various graphics libraries the web browser supports. Mozilla added Unreal Engine 3 support to Firefox back in March 2013, so it's no surprise the updated game engine is also compatible.

The demo that Mozilla posted on their YouTube channel shows the latest iteration of the Unreal Engine running at "near-native speeds" without the use of plugins. This is particularly good news for web developers, who won't need to get Firefox users to download anything before their impressive 3D in-browser games can be played.

But it's not just 3D games that Unreal Engine 4 will support in Firefox: basic 2D animations for platforming games are also possible, as shown by Unreal's Swing Ninja demo. The aim for integrating the Unreal Engine 4 in Firefox is to create in-browser games that are "almost indistinguishable" from those that you "have had to wait to download and install".

Mozilla will be at the Game Developer's Conference next week to show more of Unreal Engine 4 in Firefox. Meanwhile, PC gamers and PlayStation 4 owners will be able to get their first taste of an Unreal Engine 4-powered game in April, when survival horror game Daylight is launched.